\section{Acknowledgments}

I would like to thank Dr. Douglas Thain for his guidance and 
instruction over the past three semesters, and for introducing me to 
interesting problems and methods for approaching them.


Many thanks also to Dr. Scott Emrich, for his guidance and input on 
BioCompute, and to Rory Carmichael, for his contributions to the 
project, and for agreeing to put up with my code after I graduate.


In addition, thanks to Dr. Jeanne Romero-Severson and all the other 
beta-testers for BioCompute, whose suggestions and insights continue to 
help us iron out the inevitable kinks.


Thanks go to C.V. and A.T. for their companionship during late-night 
thesis-writing sessions.  Finally, thanks to all my friends and family 
for their support and fellowship throughout my four years at Notre Dame.


